Broadcasting Act | Bill C-10 “is going to be an election issue”

Catherine Lesque
The Canadian Press

“This is going to be an election issue, you can trust us,” Pascal Saint-Onge, president of the National Communications and Cultural Federation, told The Canadian Press.

The Trudeau government has announced that it wants to pass a time-honored resolution, with the support of Black Quebecois, to expedite the adoption of the C-10 before the end of the parliamentary session. But the Liberals’ plans were thwarted by the Conservatives, who stepped up their tactics on Friday.

Even if the Liberals get their way, the C-10 is unlikely to pass the Senate and become law until the end of parliamentary business for the summer at the end of June. The scene of the election call for this fall will kill all current bills, including this one.

C-10 aims to subject web giants to broadcasting legislation, forcing them to contribute financially to the creation and discovery of Canadian cultural content. The bill is eagerly awaited by the culture industry, which wants the biggest digital players, such as Netflix or Spotify, to be subject to the same rules of the game as traditional broadcasters in the country.

This reform is considered very urgent after an epidemic, which has put many artists out of work.

“People are mobilizing. Do not tell me that you do not know the urgency of the situation, especially after we have been experiencing it for 15 months. It can no longer be, and with it “bury ourselves”, it is not possible, that talk. […] Take action, this is urgent, ”pleaded Sophie Pregent, president of the Union of Artists (UDA).

C-10 will force digital companies to put a portion of their earnings in Canada into funding for Canadian creators. The Canadian Department of Heritage estimates it could raise $ 70 million a month.

In an interview Lethbridge HeraldA local Alberta newspaper, Conservative MP Rachel Harder criticized the approach, saying the funds would “go to a nesting group of artists stranded in the early 1990s because they did not fail to compete on new platforms.”

“And, quite frankly, they produce products that Canadians don’t like,” he added.

In his opinion, this group of artists comes mainly from Quebec, which, according to him, is the driving force behind the C-10. “These artists can’t earn a living from what they produce, so they are demanding government subsidies,” Mr.^Me In an interview with the newspaper, Harder went so far as to call these artists “outdated.”

Asked about the concept of the C-10 elsewhere in Canada, Ms.^Me Brijent says the cultural community outside of Quebec is also affected by the reform. But Quebecs are often the first to be asked, he admits.

“If anything happens at the federal level, first, the undeniable calls make themselves heard.

What’s more, this reform of the Broadcasting Act is necessary due to the advent of new sites and social media.

If C-10 dies at the soap opera, in the coming months, the cultural community will be waiting for politicians to attract them.

“If this Bill C-10 didn’t do the trick, what’s the aerial?” M asks^Me St.-Ong.

I don’t like to hear habits like “our culture is important”, “we have to help our culture”, “we like French”. […] Because we had something in our hands, we had the desire and open-mindedness to bring this question to an end before June, and there are those who prevented this. So which is better for you? She adds.

“I don’t know if it was before, after or after the election, but for me, it can’t be a failure. […] I say this is one thing. The problem is, time is 70 million per month. Here is the problem. We have to go there. This is unavoidable in my opinion, ”he said.^Me Currently.